Cowen's army faces oblivion

Everyone agrees Fianna Fail will be wiped out at the polls — but can popular candidates survive by focusing on local issues?

Thursday afternoon, eight days before the local elections, just over a week until Fianna Fail gets what everyone expects will be a hammering at the polls.

Yet John Butler, one of the party's longest-serving councillors, is grinning like a butcher's dog.

"I'm not getting savaged. That's all I know," he says, canvassing in Arcadia, a quiet residential estate on the outskirts of Athlone. "On the ground, it's different. People are a little bit disappointed about the banks and everything, but they're mostly just interested in local issues."

Arcadia, a middle-class area, is home to Mary O'Rourke, a TD and former minister. It shouldn't be hostile territory for Fianna Failers, but this isn't a typical campaign.

Butler lopes in the first gate and approaches the householder with a smile. The man looks immediately upset. He raises his hands to shoulder height, palms turned towards the vote-seeker, like someone backing out of